Duterte enters presidential race in Philippines, leads poll
Rodrigo Duterte, mayor of the southern Philippine metropolis of Davao City, will be another contender for the May 2016 elections weeks after the deadline expired for parties to declare their candidacies.
Duterte is entering the presidential race by replacing a registered contender from the Philippine Democratic Party-People’s Power, or PDP-Laban party. He is also abandoning his original plan to seek another term as mayor of Davao.
The 70-year-old joins Mar Roxas, President Benigno Aquino’s preferred successor, Vice President Jejomar Binay, whose family had run the Makati financial district for three decades, and Senator Grace Poe, a first-term lawmaker who leads in public opinion polls. Another contender is Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, a former judge who is making a third bid for the presidency.
In a new Pulse Asia survey covering metro Manila conducted on November 11 and 12, Duterte topped the list of candidates with 34 per cent. Poe was in second place with 27 per cent, while Binay came in third with 22 per cent. Administration bet Mar Roxas and Sen. Miriam Santiago trail behind with 11 and 7 per cent, respectively.
It seems that many Filipinos are attracted by the “iron fist” approach of Duterte. He told the Philippine Star in an interview “the public should put up more funeral parlors to accommodate drug dealers” once he becomes the next president of the country.
“If I become president, I advise you people to put up several funeral parlor businesses because I am against illegal drugs… I might kill someone because of it,” Duterte was quoted as saying. He warned members of drug cartels “to flee from the country or commit suicide.”
“If elected president of the Philippines, my priority is to stop criminality and corruption in the government,” he added.
In October, he was reported to have given the same warning to drug pushers in Davao. A day after, Davao City police reported that a number of drug dealers have “disappeared” from the city.
For the vice presidential rece, Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero pulled ahead of other presidential bets with 32 per cent. Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. is in second place with 24 per cent, while Senator Alan Cayetano came in third with 20 per cent.
Rodrigo Duterte, mayor of the southern Philippine metropolis of Davao City, will be another contender for the May 2016 elections weeks after the deadline expired for parties to declare their candidacies. Duterte is entering the presidential race by replacing a registered contender from the Philippine Democratic Party-People's Power, or PDP-Laban party. He is also abandoning his original plan to seek another term as mayor of Davao. The 70-year-old joins Mar Roxas, President Benigno Aquino's preferred successor, Vice President Jejomar Binay, whose family had run the Makati financial district for three decades, and Senator Grace Poe, a first-term lawmaker who leads...
Rodrigo Duterte, mayor of the southern Philippine metropolis of Davao City, will be another contender for the May 2016 elections weeks after the deadline expired for parties to declare their candidacies.
Duterte is entering the presidential race by replacing a registered contender from the Philippine Democratic Party-People’s Power, or PDP-Laban party. He is also abandoning his original plan to seek another term as mayor of Davao.
The 70-year-old joins Mar Roxas, President Benigno Aquino’s preferred successor, Vice President Jejomar Binay, whose family had run the Makati financial district for three decades, and Senator Grace Poe, a first-term lawmaker who leads in public opinion polls. Another contender is Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, a former judge who is making a third bid for the presidency.
In a new Pulse Asia survey covering metro Manila conducted on November 11 and 12, Duterte topped the list of candidates with 34 per cent. Poe was in second place with 27 per cent, while Binay came in third with 22 per cent. Administration bet Mar Roxas and Sen. Miriam Santiago trail behind with 11 and 7 per cent, respectively.
It seems that many Filipinos are attracted by the “iron fist” approach of Duterte. He told the Philippine Star in an interview “the public should put up more funeral parlors to accommodate drug dealers” once he becomes the next president of the country.
“If I become president, I advise you people to put up several funeral parlor businesses because I am against illegal drugs… I might kill someone because of it,” Duterte was quoted as saying. He warned members of drug cartels “to flee from the country or commit suicide.”
“If elected president of the Philippines, my priority is to stop criminality and corruption in the government,” he added.
In October, he was reported to have given the same warning to drug pushers in Davao. A day after, Davao City police reported that a number of drug dealers have “disappeared” from the city.
For the vice presidential rece, Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero pulled ahead of other presidential bets with 32 per cent. Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. is in second place with 24 per cent, while Senator Alan Cayetano came in third with 20 per cent.
